When I published my first blog post, I noticed two distinct feelings: a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and a feeling of extreme hopefulness and joy in my chest area. I am sure that the feeling in my stomach was one of being judged or ridiculed. The feeling in my chest was one of how I wanted people to feel and positively respond. The funny thing is, the post only has a couple of views on it. In a world of many digital resources and algorithms and artifacts and SEO and... (well, you get the picture). People aren't looking for a blog post by me on PowerPoint mistakes that you should avoid!
In spite of the sense of fear that I felt, I decided to click the "publish" button. And you know what? The world didn't fall apart, none of my friends or family laughed at me, I didn't break the Internet. In other words, it was all okay!
But what leaning into my fear and publishing that post did was provided impetus and momentum for doing another post and another post. It also reminded me of how I have come to enjoy writing, mindfulness, personal development, productivity, learning, and creating web pages!
Marie Forleo has a MarieTV episode titled Starting Before You are Ready. In the episode, she advises a woman who believes she has many things she needs to complete in order to get her business off the ground. Marie shares two examples of people who tamed their own fears and started something before they were ready and advises the woman to figure it out as she is building it.
And if you think about it, most of the inventions that we have today are actually iterations of what was first conceptualized. Can you imagine if the first person to create a washing machine was too fearful to move forward with it?
Do you have an idea that you want to move forward with? Feel those sensations in your body and recognize them for what they are. I'd love for you to share times when you leaned into your fear!